Finding Solace
by Whitsie
Summary: Slytherin!Harry, disenchanted with the Light by the end of his first year, joins Lord Voldemort. Now it is finally time for the secrets he has kept hidden from everyone to come into the open. The Second Blood War is starting, and Harry is right in the middle of it all. AU Sixth Year fic. HP/TMR
1. Prologue

**Title: **Finding Solace

**Disclaimer****: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Summary: **Slytherin!Harry, disenchanted with the Light by the end of first year, joins the Dark as soon as he has the chance. It is finally time for the secrets he has kept from everyone, even his housemates, to come into the open. The Second Blood War is starting, and Harry is in the thick of things. AU Sixth Year fic. HP/TMR

**Warnings: **Slash, swearing, mentions of child abuse (only what's in the actual books), some graphic (magical) torture

Prologue

"SYLYTHERIN"

Harry walked to the Slytherin table slowly, his steps ringing out in the silent hall. He sat with the other first years, but they all shifted subtly away from him and Draco Malfoy sneered.

"Should have chosen better on the train, Potter. I doubt the Weasley will want to be your friend now."

Harry stared steadfastly across the hall, ignoring Malfoy and the other Slytherins like he had the Dursley's for years.

* * *

"Harry Potter. Our newest… celebrity."

"Here, sir"

Harry had been looking forward to potions. It seemed to be a bit like cooking, and he had been cooking for years.

Snape sneered down at him."Where would I find a bezoar?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Clearly fame isn't everything."

Professor Snape had fired a series of questions at Harry that he had no idea how to answer. None of the answers were in the first half of his potions text book or even in his herbology book, which was a far as he had read over the holidays.

Harry had heard that Snape always favoured his Slytherins. Apparently Harry was a special case. He clearly wouldn't be getting any support or help from his head of house. He would have to rely on himself like he always had.

* * *

"Ron! Ron! Wait up." Harry called across the hallway to the red haired boy as he left transfiguration.

Ron drew to a stop, telling the black boy and the sandy haired boy he was with to go ahead. "Hey, Harry."

Harry smiled at the Gryffindor, his first ever friend. "Do you want to, maybe, play chess sometime?"

Ron looked sheepish and slightly awkward. "I can't be seen hanging out with a Slytherin, Harry. Even if he is the Boy-Who-Lived. It's just not how things work around here"

Harry had expected it, but his only friend rejecting him still hurt. He still tried to placate the other boy. "That's ok, Ron. Maybe we can talk if we are paired up in class or something?"

"Yeah. Maybe. See ya." Ron turned away and didn't look back.

Harry hadn't had friends during primary school. He could deal with the other Slytherins on his own.

* * *

"Harry, my boy. Do you know why you are here?"

Harry looked around Dumbledore's office with curiosity, before returning his attention to the Headmaster. He hadn't had any attention from the man before, so wondered where this was coming from. He presented his most innocent face, and made sure not to look Dumbledore in the eye. "No, Professor." Harry bit his lip, and looked at the headmaster hopefully. "Is it something to do with my relatives?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry over his half-moon glasses. "No, Harry. I have to talk to you about something of a much more serious nature. Unfortunately, last night Voldemort managed to steal the Philosopher's stone from Hogwarts. He will be able to make himself a new body using it. I am sorry to tell you that he is likely to try and find you over the summer so that he can kill you."

Harry was distinctly unimpressed with this fact, after living in the snake pit for a year, but made sure to show no hint of that on his face, instead focussing on the first thing Dumbledore had said. "How did he manage to steal it, sir? Hagrid told me when he took me to Diagon Alley that Hogwarts was the safest place in the world."

"Ah, Harry. He used magics far darker than you or I could comprehend. He was possessing Professor Quirrell. I imagine you know all about that though." Dumbledore chuckled slightly.

Harry was very confused by that statement, and chose to show it this time. "No, Professor, I don't. Why would I?" He asked hesitantly, as if afraid that his lack of knowledge was a bad thing.

"I would expect the curiosity of youth to lead you to work it out." Dumbledore frowned as he said this, obviously not happy with Harry's ignorance on the subject.

Harry widened his eyes, looking at the headmaster apologetically. "I'm sorry, sir. I just didn't have any time for curiosity. I had to spend every minute this year making sure that my housemates don't come after me!" Harry let his lower lip wobble for a moment. "I spent almost all my time in the library or the Great Hall. I only ever saw Professor Quirrell in class and the Great Hall, and he never showed any signs of being possessed." Harry frowned slightly. "Not that I know what being possessed looks like."

"Surely you exaggerate, Harry. I know that they seem scary, but your housemates don't truly mean you any harm." Dumbledore spoke to Harry in a placating but undeniably condescending tone.

"They do, sir, I swear." Harry implored. "They all hate me because it's my fault the Dark Lord is dead."

Harry was looking down at his hands, and so didn't see the slightly scared expression that swept over Professor Dumbledore's face, when said 'Dark Lord" before he smoothed his features again. "Call him Voldemort, Harry. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, sir."

"You have no need to fear your housemates Harry. Professor Snape has been entrusted with your care, and will look after you if you ask him for help."

Harry knew when to drop a subject, and so moved on to something he considered much more important. "Yes, sir. I.. Um…" He hesitated. "Do I need to go back to my relatives sir? I mean, they hate me. Surely you have some where else I could stay."

"No Harry." Dumbledore looked truly apologetic. "There are wards around you house that will protect you from all harm which rely on you residing somewhere your mothers blood runs. As long as you live with your aunt you will be safe. You need this protection now that Voldemort has risen again."

As Harry walked out of Professor Dumbledore's office he realised he had no support in the wizarding world. He would have to work out how to survive on his own. Harry was swiftly becoming disillusioned with the magical world. He only hoped that he discovered something that would convince him to stay.

* * *

**AN: **I've had this story sitting on my computer for a while, and I just wanted to get it posted to have an incentive to keep writing. Next chapter is written, so expect it up tonight, but the rest of the updates will be sporadic. I'm mainly going to be working on my other fic, for now, but that doesn't mean this one is going to be left abandoned or on hiatus, I'll keep writing and posting until I finish or run out of ideas, and if that happens then I'll let you know.

Anyway, hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Tell me what you think.

Whitsie


	2. Chapter 1

**Title: **Finding Solace

**Disclaimer****: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Summary: **Slytherin!Harry, disenchanted with the Light by the end of first year, joins the Dark as soon as he has the chance. It is finally time for the secrets he has kept from everyone, even his housemates, to come into the open. The Second Blood War is starting, and Harry is in the thick of things. AU Sixth Year fic. HP/TMR

**Warnings: **Slash, swearing, mentions of child abuse (only what's in the actual books), some graphic (magical) torture

Chapter 1

"You know" Harry said, as he walked into the darkened hall, letting the door's swing back and forward on their hinges. "I was having a really fantastic weekend.

"I had done all my homework during the week, I went flying and perfected my Wronski, Snape ignored me completely, and I was going to sneak out to go to visit my godfather"

At this Harry glared at the figure sitting in the throne-like chair at the other end of the hall, moving into the middle of the circle that parted in front of him.

"Hear that Voldemort." Harry frowned at the Dark Lord. "I was going to visit my godfather. We would've had a great evening, and I'd definitely be drunk by now. But it was not to be.

"I found out maybe two hours ago, from Snape of all people, that every single one of my housemates were outside of Hogwarts this evening. And they were all out of the castle because they were here being initiated."

Harry stopped behind the row of kneeling soon-to-be Death Eaters, who were clearly all confused about his appearance but too terrified to question it.

"You ruined my weekend Voldemort and I don't appreciate it."

Voldemort lounged back in his throne, toying with his wand, but when he spoke his voice was full of malice. "I don't care what you _appreciate_, Harry. I personally don't _appreciate_ you interrupting my ceremony, which is much more important than you visiting your godfather. If you want to talk to Black so bad, wait until afterwards." Voldemort's thin lips had twisted into a sneer, and his red eyes had narrowed, but Harry could feel through his scar that Voldemort wasn't actually that annoyed with him. He took a minute to appreciate his lords acting skills before replying.

"Oh please. The Inner Circle are used to me rocking up whenever I want, and the recruits don't matter. It's not like they would dare tell anyone." Harry wouldn't have dared act like this in front of the normal Death Eaters. The Dark Lord would definitely have _crucio_'d him. But with only the Inner Circle present, Harry could act as he wanted without fear of repercussion.

Harry stepped up onto Goyle's prone form, taking two steps across his back and then down onto the ground.

"Honestly I'm fairly sick of their superior attitude around the common room, strutting around like they own it and insulting me for being 'Light'. I just wanted to show them the… ah… error of their ways." Harry bared his teeth in a vicious grin, as he walked up onto the dais Voldemort's throne sat on and stood before him. "You wouldn't deny me that now would you, Voldemort."

Harry plopped down in Voldemort's lap, his back resting against one low arm rest, while his legs swung over the other.

Voldemort snorted softly. "Brat." He whispered into Harry's hair softly enough that no one else in the room could hear, then sat up from his lounging position, his arms winding around Harry's waist to ensure that he didn't fall off. "I think you may just be confusing them more."

Harry had sworn to Voldemort in his second year that he would never join Dumbledore. He had sent a letter swearing his service inside the empty diary he had found in the Chamber of Secrets sitting next to Ginervra Weasley's dead body. The Dark Lord had asked for an oath, and Harry had willingly given it. Harry had known, even then, that he really had no value to Voldemort as a follower, or servant. He was a propaganda piece more than anything else. His political value as the Boy-Who-Lived was the only thing he could bring to Voldemort's side.

Rather than swearing his mostly useless wand to the Dark Lord's cause he had sworn to use his considerable fame to support the Dark when they managed to kill Dumbledore and therefore any opposition the Light may pose. Harry knew that his endorsement would ensure a peaceful reception from the general public, allowing the Dark to take control of Wizarding Britain with little resistance.

Harry had had no interaction with the Dark Lord in his third year, but during that summer he had been taken to meet the man, and they had both discovered that he was a horcrux. Voldemort's horcrux.

Since then Harry's worth had risen dramatically in the Dark Lord's eyes, and he had been granted far more liberties than any other Death Eater, as truly, he wasn't one.

"Why are you here, Potter?" Voldemort asked him. Harry had never bothered to come to an initiation before, so he figured Voldemort was justifiably curious.

"I have some things to report." He ventured.

"You could have sent me a letter. What else?"

Harry smiled darkly. "I really didn't want to give up this opportunity."

"What opportunity?"

_"The opportunity to watch my housemates scream in agony as the Dark Mark is branded into their skin._" Harry replied in parseltongue.

Voldemort gave the high cruel laugh he was known for, tightening his arms around Harry's waist for a moment before pushing him to stand up again. "You are so good to me, Potter. Go stand with your godfather, and you can join the meeting afterwards."

Harry kissed Voldemort's cheek and then walked over to stand next to Sirius, who, despite being cloaked like the rest of the Death Eaters had left his mask off.

Sirius was the most impressive achievement of the Black family in recent history. Sirius had approached his mother and father at age seven asking the best way for him to serve the Dark Lord. He and his brother had been raised with stories about the Dark Lord and the fantastic man he was being told to them every night. Both Orion and Walburga had attended school with Tom Riddle, and had supported his rise to infamy. His parents had told little Sirius that the best way to serve was to be faithful to the Dark and to become a Death Eater when he was older. Sirius had, initially, been happy with that answer, but, a year later, had approached his parents and revealed a far better idea. He had proposed a scheme that would not only benefit the Dark Lord, but would benefit the Black family if the Dark were to lose the war that they all knew was coming.

Sirius had known at that age, being brash, loud and prone to pranks, that being a Gryffindor was a very viable option for him, but he had had no desire to disappoint his parents. So Sirius had asked if he would be able to use his sorting to infiltrate the Light from the inside by befriending James Potter, who he knew would be in his year. The Potter family had always had close ties to Dumbledore, and that meant that James would be a prime candidate for a prominent position in the Light.

His parents had considered his plan for a very long time, but had eventually agreed to it. They knew it would be risky, and would run for decades, but if it worked, it would be a master piece. A manipulation worthy of the Blacks. Sirius' parents had helped him plan it out, and had brought in his brother to help further develop it, presenting the plan, and working out what Regulus' actions at Hogwarts would be to ensure that it seemed to everyone outside the family that Sirius had truly turned away from the Black family.

Sirius had faithfully served the Dark for his whole life, and had been the one to recommend to the Dark Lord that his brother be killed when his loyalty seemed in question.

Harry slipped into the circle of Death Eater's next to his godfather, gripping his hand through his cloak for a moment in greeting, then turned his attention back to his housemates and the Dark Lord.

"My faithful. We have before us nine new recruits. Nine new recruits ready to pledge their lives to my service." Voldemort's voice carried the hissing that he and Harry could bring forth as parseltongues. "Do we believe them ready? They are young after all."

Harry smirked as, as one, his housemates crawled forward to the edge of the dais, pressing their foreheads into the ground when they reached it. Draco Malfoy was the only one to keep his head off the ground, although he kept his eyes steadfastly downturned. He had clearly been designated to speak for the group.

"My lord. We are here to pledge our service to you, in any way we can. Although we are young, we are still able and willing to serve. We have been trained for this for our whole lives, my lord. We beg that you accept us."

Harry saw that Voldemort allowed a small, smug smirk to cross his face for a moment, only because none of the recruits would dare look at his face.

"Come forward then, young Malfoy. Come forward to take my mark."

Malfoy crawled forward to kiss Voldemort's feet, then kneeled, pulling up his left sleeve as he did so. He tried to hold his arm still, but couldn't repress the tiny tremble caused by fear and nerves.

Voldemort drew his bone white wand from his sleeve and pressed it deep into Malfoy's skin, then hissed "_Morsmodre_." Harry stood on his toes as the dark ink bled into Malfoy's skin, standing out beautifully in contrast. He was clearly trying to hold his screams in, but broke after only a moment. Harry's godfather had told him that getting the Dark Mark hurt even more than the Cruciatus, so for Malfoy to hold out for even a moment was impressive.

Each of his housemates followed Malfoy's lead, crawling to the Dark Lord, kissing his feet, then receiving the Dark Mark. They all screamed loudly, the sounds of their distress echoing in the large hall, bouncing off the walls, and Harry relished every one.

His housemates had never accepted him. To them he was the Boy-Who-Lived, as he intended it. He had been ordered by the Dark Lord to not draw any attention, not from his housemates, not from his professors and especially not from Dumbledore. This had meant that Harry had needed to keep his marks hovering below average in all subjects, keep his head down during school as so not to receive any detentions or lose points, and above all, stay out of the way of any Slytherin.

It had hurt him inside every time one of his housemates sneered at him, or tossed an insult his way, or messed with his stuff, but he had lived with it, knowing that there would be a day his lord would allow him to leave the shadows and show his house exactly why he was sorted into the snake pit.

Voldemort had finally ordered him to do that this year, which was the only reason he had dared to turn up at this initiation, but that didn't mean that he couldn't relish in the torture of his tormentors of the last five years.

As the last of them, Bulstrode, collapsed at the Dark Lord's feet, Harry was practically high on the rush flooding not only from him, but from the Dark Lord, but made sure not to let any of that show on his face.

Harry bowed with the rest of the Inner Circle as the Dark Lord stood, and walked pat them, calling back to them. "Come. All of you."

Harry strode forward with his godfather toward the conference room that he knew the Dark Lord had just entered. He snickered under his breath as he heard someone, Avery he thought, kick one of his housemates, hissing at them to follow and not make a fool of themselves.

Harry walked up to the head of the table, slipping into the seat next to Voldemort as he always had. He knew, as did the Death Eater's did, that this was not an indication of rank, but merely because of his status as something precious to the Dark Lord. His housemates, however, didn't know this, so Harry just leant back casually in his chair, drawing his wand and toying with it as Voldemort had been when he had entered the hall.

"_How are you, my lord?_" Harry asked in parseltongue.

"_Well, my horcrux. And you?_" Voldemort replied in the same language.

"_Very well._" Harry purred. "_Very, very well. I finally have carte blanche to do whatever I want to my housemates. Why wouldn't I be happy?_"

Voldemort chuckled, his handsome features darkening with malicious delight with Harry's words. "_You will have to keep my updated, my horcrux. I am very interested in what your twisted mind will be able to come up with._"

"_I've had five years, Voldemort. It is going to be glorious._" Harry looked over to his housemates, and saw their terrified expressions at his and Voldemort's hissed conversation. "_Look at them. Already ready to piss themselves. By the end of the year I'm going to have them almost as scared as me as they are of you._"

Voldemort reached his hand up and stroked it down Harry's face, tracing over his nose and resting it on his lips. Harry shuddered at the pleasurable sensations that ran through his body at the Dark Lord's actions, a by product of the part of his soul Harry held entwined with his own. "_Let me aid you in that, my precious._"

Voldemort drew his hand away from Harry, turning to face his Death Eaters as he did so.

"My faithful. Tonight we plan to take Hogwarts."

Harry sat up straighter in his chair at Voldemort's words, as did the rest of the Inner Circle. The new recruits just stood stiffly against the wall in a line, to petrified with fear to react to anything.

"How, my lord? Is wittle Potter finally going to do something." Bellatrix Lestrange cooed. She had been released from Azkaban the year before, and had taken an instant dislike to Harry for his closeness to the Dark Lord.

Harry glared at the woman, but let it slide. She could out duel him and he knew it. Although he was talented and was better at duelling than anyone else at Hogwarts, he had no hope of defeating any of the Inner Circle. They all had years of training on him, and in some cases, like Bellatrix, a tinge of insanity that made them unpredictable.

"He will be, Bella. I have had my reasons to keep him in the shadows before this." Bellatrix cowered under Voldemort's glare.

"Draco. Come forward." Draco Malfoy walked forward on stiff legs and bowed, looking terrified at being singled out.

"I have a task for you and your housemates this year. You are all responsible for creating a way to get into Hogwarts. My Inner Circle and I will create a plan for you, as you are not yet trusted enough to do that, and you will carry it out. Is that clear?"

Malfoy dropped to his knee's and bowed his head. "Yes, my lord. It shall be done." The other Slytherins echoed his words.

"Good." Voldemort whispered. "Stand." Malfoy scrambled to his feet. "You shall report to Harry. He will monitor your progress and give you any new orders from me. Treat his word as mine within Hogwarts walls."

Even if Malfoy had tried he wouldn't have been able to hide his disgust at that order from the Dark Lord, brilliant Legilimens that he was, but he didn't try, and let a sneer show plainly on his face.

"Do you have a problem with that, little Malfoy?" Voldemort questioned, his voice taking on the dangerous tone every Death Eater soon learned to fear. Malfoy had not yet become aware of the signs of Voldemort's displeasure, and so spoke his thoughts.

"Potter, my lord?" he sneer deepened, as he turned his head to face Harry. "Surely there is someone else. Someone more… capable. Less… pathetic."

Voldemort reached out his hand and drew Harry into his lap, gripping his hips tightly. Harry just let himself be moved around like a doll, knowing that the Dark Lord was planning something, and it was easiest to just go along with it.

"Harry will be seeing me fairly often, little Malfoy. He will be able to carry messages back and forth with ease." Voldemort reached one hand up to stroke through Harry's hair, and he pressed into it, shutting his eyes with pleasure. He heard Malfoy gasp then chuckle darkly at his actions.

Harry opened his eyes again, and saw, out of the corner of his eye, Lucius Malfoy shaking his head at his son, before he was held still by Rodolphus Lestrange.

"I see now, my lord. I must commend you on taking the Light's saviour as a fuck-toy. It is impressive, to say the least."

Harry was sure Malfoy would have continued, but Harry turned in his chair to straddle Voldemort, and, under the pretence of licking and sucking up his neck, whispered in his ear. "May I teach him a lesson." He kissed Voldemort behind his ear and begged. "Please, my lord."

Voldemort grabbed his hair and pulled his head away from his neck harshly, then spoke, his words in complete contradicition with his actions. "You may, my precious. You may."

Harry stood smoothly from his position in his lords lap, and drew his wand and turned to face Draco.

"The Dark Lord wants us to duel, Draco. Who are we to deny him?"

Malfoy drew his wand arrogantly. He held the best marks in their year, while Harry's were certainly closer to the bottom than the top. His win seemed, in his mind at least, assured. Unfortunately he didn't know that Harry could beat him with a hand immobilised, and Harry had no intention of telling him. He was glad that Rodolphus had managed to get Lucius under control as that meant that he had no way of warning his son of the danger he was in.

Harry and Malfoy stood fifteen paces apart, directly between the table the Inner Circle sat at, and the line of Slytherin sixth years. Harry saw that they had all moved on from their fear, and now just looked on with anticipation of the blood they were sure Malfoy would make him spill.

Harry was looking forward to disappointing them.

He and Malfoy bowed, then stood, with their wands outstretched, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Malfoy moved first, sending a petrification hex, and _expelliarmus_ in quick succession. Harry dodged them easily. Clearly Malfoy was going for the humiliation factor, aiming to defeat Harry with fourth year spells.

Harry just smiled at Malfoy and sent a blood boiling curse, bone breaking hex and cutting charm non-verbally. Malfoy managed to get a shield charm up in time, but it failed after the hex hit it, allowing the cutting charm to pass through and cut into his shoulder. It hadn't been that strong, but it was enough to draw blood.

Malfoy hissed at the pain, but then proceeded to ignore it, aware now that Harry had been hiding some of his abilities while at Hogwarts. He sent a stunner at Harry's feet then a flaying curse at his head, which was intented to peel his skin back from his bones. Harry realised that Malfoy planned to draw out the duel, to make Harry reveal the extent of his abilities, but he didn't want to do that this early in the year, so jumped over the stunner and cast a shield in front of the flaying curse, sending it back at Malfoy. Harry then cast his patronus, then a petrification hex and expelliarmus directly behind it. The silvery light from Prongs prevented Malfoy from seeing his other spells, and Harry caught his wand out of the air as it flew towards him. If Malfoy planned on humiliating him, then Harry didn't see why he should do the same.

He cast a mobilicorpus on Malfoy's rigid body and floated him over to the Dark Lord, setting him at his feet, and to add further insult to injury, placed his wand back in his hand. "A gift, my lord, for you."

Voldemort smirked, waving his hand at Malfoy and casting a _finite incantatem _to release him from Harry's spells.

"Don't question my orders again, little Malfoy. Next time I'll get Harry to just _crucio _you."

"Yes, my lord." Malfoy scrambled to get to his feet, but Harry kicked his knees out from below him, to keep him kneeling.

"Apologise." He hissed, allowing his 's' to be drawn out.

"I'm sorry, my lord. It won't happen again." Malfoy babbled, clearly scared out of his mind.

"I'm sure it won't. Go and take your friends to wait by the door. Arrange yourself in a circle."

Malfoy backed away on his knees, then once he was about five feet away, stood up and rushed over to the other Slytherins and pulled them to the door, hushing them as they tried to question him.

Harry turned his attention back to the Dark Lord, and bowed. "Is there anything else you need from me, my lord?"

Voldemort's reached out to grab his chin and draw his head forward until it was about a centimetre from the Dark Lords. "I want you back here in a week. I will have the plan for your housemates then."

"Yes, my lord." Harry breathed.

Voldemort closed the gap between their lips in a demanding kiss, which Harry submitted to immediately, not putting up any pretence of a fight. He parted his lips when Voldemort's tongue pressed against it, allowing it to dominate his mouth, and moaned softly.

Voldemort pulled back with a smug smile on his lips, and pushed his chest lightly to get him to back away.

"_I will see you in a week, my little horcrux. Be well._"

"_Yes, my lord Voldemort._" Harry replied, dazedly. He then pulled himself together before turning his back on the Dark Lord and facing the Slytherins with a confident tilt to his chin.

He strode over to them and held out a ribbon, then glared at them when they didn't take it.

"It's a portkey to Hogwarts. Hold it." He ordered.

They all complied grudgingly, most likely because they were still in the presence of the Dark Lord.

He spoke the activation code, "_Chamber_", and they spun away, back to Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 2

**Title: **Finding Solace

**Disclaimer****: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Summary: **Slytherin!Harry, disenchanted with the Light by the end of first year, joins the Dark as soon as he has the chance. It is finally time for the secrets he has kept from everyone, even his housemates, to come into the open. The Second Blood War is starting, and Harry is in the thick of things. AU Sixth Year fic. HP/TMR

**Warnings: **Slash, swearing, mentions of child abuse (only what's in the actual books), some graphic (magical) torture

Chapter 3

Harry took two steps back warily, and drew his wand the second he and his other housemates were dropped off by the Portkey.

It was a good thing he did because Malfoy and Zabini immediately drew their wands and pointed them at him, the rest of the Slytherins gathering menacingly behind them.

"What the fuck was that, Potter?"

Harry drew on the cockiness that Snape had told him thousands of times his father also had, and drew his chin up, looking down his nose at his housemates, an admirable feat considering they were all taller than him. "What was _what_, Zabini?"

"You know what he's talking about, Potter. That thing with the Dark Lord, and the duel and being Dark, and that _kiss_!"

Harry could understand Zabini's mindset. Harry Potter had been a weak, unintelligent wizard for as long as Zabini had known him, and had never stood up for himself in any situation. According to Harry's past actions, if either Zabini or Malfoy threatened him, he would roll over and give them what they wanted, Dark Lord's fucktoy or not.

Unfortunately the basis for Zabini's assumptions was fundamentally wrong.

Harry had continued to spend most of his time in the library after his first year, because he still wasn't welcomed in his house. Because of all the time he spent there, he changed from the abused, isolated child he was, to the competent wizard he was today, all the while creating and maintaining his mask of a downtrodden Slytherin Boy Who Lived.

All the time he spent in the library meant that he was always a couple of weeks ahead of his class in terms of spell work and theory. He always knew every spell they learnt in class well enough to be able to purposefully fail at casting it.

Most teachers had no idea about what he was doing. Some like Sprout and Hagrid because they never paid enough attention to him, and their classes were easier to make purposeful mistakes look like accidents. Others, like McGonnagall were too blinded by their dislike of Slytherins, and general disdain for Harry himself for being sorted into the snake pit, to notice what he was doing.

Some teachers, however, had caught on to what he was doing. Professor Flitwick and Professor Lupin the most notable among them. He had asked them both not to call him out on it, when they questioned him about failing intentionally, explaining that it had to do with house politics and his status as the Boy Who Lived. Harry had benefited from their attention, however, by asking them to privately coach him on more advanced skills, under the guise of remedial lessons. Professor Moody had also helped and tutored him, but Harry had known the man was going to be a polyjuiced Death Eater before the year had even started, and so had approached the man on the first day asking for additional lessons.

It was because of these lessons that Harry was so proficient at DADA. Being good enough to defeat Draco Malfoy in a duel was nothing to scoff at, considering the other boy had been trained to duel and fight from a young age. Harry had always had a natural talent, but it had been drawn out and nurtured by the only two competent DADA professors they had ever had, and an award winning duelling champion.

It was with this duelling talent, and his swift reflexes that Harry disarmed and bound Zabini, then Malfoy and then the rest of his housemates.

Levitating them so that they were all lined up in a row in front of him, Harry addressed the sixth year Slytherins. "Right. Let's clear some things up." He narrowed his eyes, and stared down each of them. "As far as the rest of the school is concerned nothing is going to change. At all

"You're all going to treat me the same as you always have when in public, and I'm going to stay out of your way, like before. The only thing that's different is that if I ask you for something, or ask you to do something, you do it. Okay?"

The Slytherins had remained silent during his little speech, but clearly got over their shock as he finished talking and addressed them with a glare. They erupted into a cacophony of noise, spewing out insults and denials indiscriminately. Malfoy finally managed to make his voice heard over the rest of them, and called for them to shut up. He then looked down his nose at Harry with a sneer. "Right, Potter. I think you've gathered that the general consensus is 'no', but in case you hadn't, well, what you are asking is never going to happen, and once you let us out of these bindings, you're going to regret ever thinking about it." He smiled mockingly and asked in a condescending tone. "Okay?"

Harry knew that the Slytherins had a low opinion of him, but he didn't think that they were so set in their ways that they just ignored everything that they had seen already that night. "Why not?" He asked. "I'm obviously valuable to the Dark Lord, and you're all just high school Death Eaters. If nothing else I out rank you."

As he finished Pansy Parkinson let out a shriek of laughter. "Valuable, Potter? You think you're valuable? Please." She continued in a sickeningly sweet tone. "Just because you're warming the Dark Lord's bed for the moment, doesn't mean you out rank us. He'll drop you within the month, and then you'll be _so_ screwed." She let out another high pitched laugh, but it quickly rose another octave into a scream of pain.

Harry laughed darkly. "Oh, Parkinson. That I'm fucking our lord has no bearing on my worth to him." Harry looked around at the other Slytherins, and activated their Dark Marks as well, using the wand pressed tightly into his side. He smiled at their swiftly muffled grunts and gasps of pain. "You think that hurts? Wait until _he _summons you."

Harry let them suffer for a moment longer, before letting the pain draw out of their Marks. "So, as I said before. Let's get some things clear. I out rank you considerably. My first, and only, order is to act the same as you always have. Be prepared to follow any others I may give you. I am also your point of contact to the Dark Lord. Any messages you want to pass on to him regarding your task you need to get to me discreetly, and I'll pass them on. He'll reply through me, and tell me any new orders he might have for you. Do you all follow now?" Harry let his question coincide with a flare of their Marks, but didn't give them a chance to respond. "I do hope we have no problems from now on."

Harry flicked his wand to dispel the binding charms on all the Slytherins and dropped their wands on the floor, before turning on his heel and stalking from the room.

Once he was a hallway over Harry brought his hand up to rest on the wall, and placed the other on his hand, willing it to calm down.

The magic needed to manipulate the Dark Mark was intensely difficult and required a lot of power, and Harry hadn't yet perfected it. He didn't want his housemates to be aware of that fact, however.

He had spent the last two years researching to work out how the Dark Mark operated, casting spells on Barty Crouch's Mark whenever he could be certain the man wouldn't notice, and occasionally ambushing one of last years Marked Slytherins, to run some further tests, before obliviating them. He had been fortunate to be able to compare the spell work in their Mark to his own modified Mark that ran up his right side. It had been a complex spell to work out, let alone twist so that Harry could affect other's Marks through his own, but he had managed it, all without Voldemort ever noticing.

Admittedly though, he did have a fair amount of help from the man he was on his way to see. Severus Snape.

Harry knocked on Snape's door, then walked in, not waiting for the man to call for him to enter. He'd had an open invitation to the mans office since fourth year, and always took advantage of it.

He had never planned to tell his head of house anything, but that had backfired spectacularly because of Snape's vow to Dumbledore to always protect Lily's son. It had pushed Snape to switch his loyalties back to the Dark side, because of Harry's shifting inclinations back in his third year, and that had prompted the professor to confront Harry.

Harry still found it amusing that it was Dumbledore's own actions that had lost the Light their best spy.

"Evans." Snape greeted Harry. He had called Harry by his mothers maiden name since third year.

"Hello, s-" Harry was only halfway through his greeting before he was swept into a hug by someone from behind. Harry slammed his elbow into the offender's stomach, before he recognised the distinctive smell of tobacco that Sirius always hanging around him.

"Siri." He exclaimed. "Sorry about that. But you know better than to come at me from behind. I've never been good at dealing with that. You know that. You spent the whole holidays with me for Merlins sake."

Sirius, however, just waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, pup. I was just testing your reflexes. Congratulations on passing." Sirius drew him into another hug with a charming grin. Harry was still sometimes overwhelmed by his godfathers exuberance, despite spending a considerable amount of time around the man, but he did as he had always done, and nodded and smiled, just going along with it.

"I'm sure that's exactly what it was, mutt. It certainly wasn't your Azkaban addled brain forgetting things again." Snape drawled, bitingly.

Before Sirius had a chance to reply, Snape ploughed on. "What are you here for, Evans? I have no desire for your company this evening."

Harry turned back to the door, shaking off Siruis' restraining hand as he did so. "Alright then." He said airily. "I'll leave. I'll tell you about how I dealt with the other Slytherins some other time."

Harry smirked as the door locked shut before he had a chance to open it.

"Sit down, you menace, and explain yourself."

Harry leant back against the door instead. "I don't think I will. You just need to know that they're not going to be a problem. The school, and the headmaster will never know anything has changed.

"Now, I'm tired, and just want to go to sleep, and also don't want to be here when your godson inevitably comes knocking, amusing as his face would be when he saw me here.

"If you want to talk with me just give me a detention or something. Assign me to work with Longbottom and we'll blow up a potion for sure."

"Okay, you menace. Go into my office, and through the passageway. No need for you to run into anyone on your way back to the common room." Snape dismissed him then, turning back to his marking.

"I'll come with you, Harry." Sirius jumped up as Harry made his way across the room.

Harry didn't even bother to reply to his godfather, knowing the man wouldn't be deterred by anything.

Harry had a very odd relationship with his godfather. Neither of them had known they were on the same side until half way through their third year. Harry had thought Sirius was the white sheep of the Black Family, and Sirius had only known Harry as the Boy Who Lived, and Dumbledore's Golden Boy. All of their interactions had been tainted by this misunderstanding, and it hadn't been until the Dark Lord had told Sirius to pass along a message to his godson that they had worked it out.

Harry had spent the summer before his fifth year staying with the Order of the Phoenix at Grimmauld Place, which Sirius had lent to Dumbledore 'for the cause.' Really it had meant that Sirius was able to learn all sorts of things about the Order that Snape never could, because, as he owned the house, he also owned all the portraits, and they reported back to him on any gossip and news they might hear.

It had been that summer, after Sirius had been informed, indirectly, of Harry's true loyalties by the Dark Lord, that they had grown closer. Sirius had taken Harry into an out of the way room, warded it to high hell with privacy and silencing charms, and drawn up his left sleeve to show Harry his Dark Mark. It had only taken Harry a minute to work out everything that Sirius was telling him. His only response had been, "You are so lucky that you never got a trial."

After that they had grown steadily closer. Knowing they were on the same side, and being the closest thing to family Harry had left, had meant that once they had started talking they had never stopped.

Everyone in the house had been aware of it, but most of the Order members had only seen it as a godson getting closer to his godfather after a dozen years of separation.

The only person who had had any problems with it had been Snape, and that was because he was the only other person in the house aware of Harry's Dark inclinations.

He had taken Harry to the side a few weeks before the start of term and had berated him for his decisions and closer relationship with his godfather. This had prompted Harry to make both men aware of their loyalty to their Dark side, and since then both men had come to some sort of alliance. What it's conditions were Harry had no idea, but he didn't really care, so long as it didn't affect their ability to carry out their duty to their Lord.

"How have you been, Harry? We didn't get much chance to talk earlier." Sirius asked as soon as they had left Snape's office.

"Good, Siri. Really good. Especially now. As you saw, the Dark Lord is finally letting some people see that I'm not the incompetent idiot I've been pretending to be, even if it is only the Slytherin's. It's going to be so nice to participate in the inter-house politics now."

"Merlin. Slytherins. By Circe am I so glad I was never one. I had no talent for politics back then. That was always Reggie's prerogative."

"Funny, Sirius. Like being a Gryffindor is any better? The constant level of macho bullshit you had to deal with must have been tedious." Harry and Sirius had started these small house related spats back when they thought they were on opposite sides of the upcoming war, but had continued since then, because they both enjoyed them too much to stop.

"Nah, Harry. We got most of it out on the pitch. You would have done well up in the lion's den, what with how well you fly."

"Bloody hell. I've just realised something." Harry turned to Sirius, almost bouncing as he walked. "I'm allowed to try out for the team! That'll put Malfoy in his place. And with the Firebolt you got me last year... It's going to be fantastic." Harry knew a wide grin was splitting his face, but Sirius wouldn't care about the show of emotion like any Slytherin would. Instead, he just looked back at Harry with the same expression.

"Seeker, right? You're a good Chaser, but your dives are far more suited to going after the Snitch." His face suddenly turned serious. "You'd better make sure you win though. I want something else to rub in Narcissa's face. The duel from tonight will be enough for a while, but, Merlin, you beat her baby at something he thinks he's unbeatable in..." Sirius trailed off with a dreamy expression.

Sirius' attitude toward his living members of his family couldn't be more different. He hated Narcissa with a passion, for what reasons Harry had no idea, but he had gathered it had something to do with Malfoy Junior. It was odd because Sirius had a fantastic relationship with Lucius Malfoy. Whenever Harry saw them together they were deep in conversation about something, or drinking some of Lucius', not doubt expensive, liquor. Harry had some suspicions that they were having an affair behind Narcissa's back, but had no proof, and really didn't care enough to go and find it.

Sirius had a similar opinion toward Andromeda, Narcissa's older sister. She had married a muggleborn, and left behind the Black Family, the latter of which was the more unforgivable offense. Sirius hadn't talked to her since he broke out of Azkaban, and had no plans to either. Whenever he came across her daughter, Nymphadora, at headquarters, be practically ignored her, only paying enough attention to her that it wasn't obvious to anyone not trained to pick up those subtleties. For all that Sirius hated it, he was perfectly capable of being a pureblood Lord when the situation called for it.

Bellatrix, however, was Sirus' favourite cousin. They had been placed in cells opposite one another in Azkaban, and had spent those twelve years talking and reconciling, at least, they had when they were both lucid. Sirius had informed her of his true loyalties, and they had since then built up a proper familial relationship.

"I'll win, Sirius, don't worry. You've seen me fly. I'm better than anyone in this school, let alone my house." Harry's confidence had certainly grown since his first year. "I'd ask for luck, but I don't need it."

Sirius pulled Harry into a tight hug. "I'll try to come by occasionally. Maybe I can convince our Lord to pass messages through me."

"Maybe Sirius. Otherwise I'll see you at Yule." Harry pulled out of his godfather's hug reluctantly, and turned to tap the stone in the wall with his wand that would let him out into the corridor next to the entrance to the common room.

He stepped out of the passageway, and waved to his godfather as the wall slid shut again, then made his way to the entrance, squaring his shoulders and preparing his wand to drop into his hand at a moments notice. He had a House to subdue.

* * *

**AN: **Hey all. Next chapter. Yay. Hope you like it

Thanks to every one who read. You're fantastic.

That's all I have to say really.

Whitsie


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